Guest reviews Sandals Ochi Beach Resort

by Adrian20192019 San Antonio, Texas

If you have a dietary restriction, stay away!

This vacation was our honeymoon get away. We were so excited because all our lives we have seen the commercials of the beautiful sandals resorts, and finally, we had flights booked to Jamaica for our vacation! We had high hopes and expectations. We drove through an extremely poor area on a 1.5 hour commute from the airport to the resort. The streets were riddled with homeless, trash, etc. Upon our arrival to the resort, amazingly safe and sound, we were greeted with friendly faces and helping hands. Okay, we thought, this will be great. The resort was well kept, water immaculate, clean beaches. As it became time to eat, we walked into one of the restaurants. There were limited items on the menu, and our waiter prompted us with questions about our dietary needs. Great! We thought, so we told them, over and over and over about our non dairy restrictions. The waiters had literally no knowledge of any of the dishes on the menu, whether they had milk or not. We were assured they would notify the chef about the no-dairy, and so we trusted. The first night we ate and enjoyed, and woke up with stomach sickness in the middle of the night. The thing is that this place is not America, they don't take dietary restrictions seriously. It was ridiculous how lax they are on this issue. The workers don't care about their jobs, in fact it, as we stayed it seemed there was some resentment towards us. Not from all the employees, but some no doubt. They were not happy working there and they could care less if you got sick it not. For that reason, if you have any dietary restriction, this place will ruin you, and you will want to find something somewhere they actually care, or go somewhere you will be able to prepare your own meals.

by Kim H Georgetown, Ontario, Canada

First Stay at a Sandals resort

My husband and I were quite excited to visit a Sandals resort for the first time. We are happy members of another travel club, but wanted to try something different. Let me first start off by saying I wanted to post this on the Sandals Blaze Loop but did not bring my laptop with me. Hence, I tried to do it once we were home, but it seems this only works onsite. Having said that, I hope the managers get word of two very exceptional employees: Adam and Kadeem whom are both pool attendants. We spent 90% of our time around out little pool in the Hillside section and these two men were great! They did an amazing job maintaining our litile pool, as well as answer any questions we about local wildlife, plants, etc. They really are hard working and I do hope they get recognized for their efforts! The concierge team in the Sandals Butler Elite Office was also extrememly helpful. Thanks for a great vacation!

by RonvldM Baltimore, Maryland

Great vacation getaway!

From the time we step out of customs we felt welcomed. We were constantly checked on by the staff to accompany us with reservations and any other help we needed, never did it feel like a burden. While we were there we encountered several staff members one in particular that stood out was Dennilee who had several jobs on the resorts she was very helpful, carried good fun conversation and with other talented members put on a great show at the theater.

by missgarbotravels Greater London, United Kingdom

Ageing resort, wonderful people

The resort is ageing, and it shows. The crumbling edge of quality is plainly to be seen in the state of the buildings. In our suite (in the Butler Village), the bath tap and shower head were loose and flopping around on the wall, largely secured by globs of silicon sealant. The doors to the pool area were secured (just) by a bizarre array of cheap locks, presumably installed at different times when the originals broke. The furnishing and sofas were old-fashioned, worn and slightly stained. On the front of the main building, old and rusty air conditioning units sat on equally tired-looking brackets. Our bathroom door was hard to close as well. On the plus side, our large bed was amazing!!! We were so comfortable and slept so well. The logistics left a bit to be desired too. Our room key was deactivated on multiple occasions. The phone we were given to connect us to the butler service failed multiple times (and was hard to use the rest of the time). Reception was not quite that – it was frequently unmanned. Allocation of tables at breakfast at "The Southern Table" was bizarre (if the wonderful Kenroy wasn't there): with plenty of tables free, guests were asked to wait in a queue at a (frequently unmanned) desk. The queue got large at certain times, and got in the way of the people who were lucky enough to have been given a table, and were trying to access the buffet. On one occasion, when we tried to find a table ourselves, we were told summarily to leave the table we'd found - among many free ones - and stand by the podium inside until we were fetched. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason. The architecture is odd and from another time in parts. There are some nice bits, which fit in with the very green surroundings: natural roofs and pleasant piers. However, reception on the beach side looks like a 1950s school building. And there are multiple garish towers, painted in bright colours, and with the omnipresent Sandals logo screaming out. It’s a bit like a grown up version of a children’s play area, and most of it does no favours to the surroundings. The beaches are also tiny, with sun-loungers crammed together. The gardens are a very different story. They are beautifully tended, lush and verdant. There is a good selection of rainforest trees and vegetation, and multiple lakes and streams, alive with fish. They are a credit to the ground maintenance team, and a pleasure to be in. There are many restaurants, from straightforward buffets, to restaurants trying to be French, Italian, American. The restaurant food was mixed: generally, the posher the restaurant, the worse we thought the food was. We had a pear, walnut and gorgonzola salad in the Italian restaurant that was mostly lettuce, with a couple of bits of walnut and some crumbs of gorgonzola - not like anything you'd get in Italy. In the French Restaurant we were approached by the waiter, to tell us about the special dish. “We’re vegetarian”, we said. “The special is lamb shank”, he continued. “We’re vegetarian”, we repeated. “I have to tell you about the special...” he continued. Oh dear. The salad buffets, on the other hand, were consistently excellent, and the fresh fruit was pretty good too. We loved the Reef Terrace and it's excellent Rasta Stew. Overall, as vegetarians, we were well-catered for. The quality shortfalls in the resort’s food and infrastructure are compensated to a large extent by the staff, 90% of whom are friendly, positive and often funny. We had butler service, which was patchy but generally positive. The games staff are lively, keen and great dancers (special shout-out to Melissa and Gerine). Kenroy, who runs the restaurants, sorted out any problems that we had swiftly, efficiently and with a positive attitude - we loved him. Others stand-outs were Robert, Tanna, Shaniek, Alicia, Nerene, Tanisha (the one with the popping eyeshadow!), Derron and Byron. Overall, we had warm feelings about the place - the sun shone, we didn't go hungry or thirsty and we appreciated the warmth of most of the staff. We left feeling happy overall with our time in Jamaica, but we doubt we'll go back to this resort - if we do, it will just be to say "hello" to some of the staff we now consider friends.

by Safari392644

Anniversary

All White Chocolate Party! This group of people were outstanding! Dennilee, Shanet, Melissa, made the night exciting, fun, and oh so glamours! Just fantastic!👏🏻👏🏻😘😘❤️💋This entertaining was way over the top!